House, Senate negotiators agree on $700 billion for military

WASHINGTON (AP) — House and Senate negotiators have agreed on an annual defense policy bill that authorizes $700 billion for the Pentagon in fiscal 2018.

That's an ample increase over the amount sought by President Donald Trump. It pays for more active-duty troops, aircraft and ships than he requested.

Details are scheduled to be made public later Wednesday, but congressional staff members say the bill allots just over $634 billion for core Pentagon operations and nearly $66 billion for wartime missions in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and elsewhere. The staff members spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak on the record.